CHANDIGARH: The maiden G20 International Financial Architecture Working Group meeting will be held on January 30 and 31 in Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab and Haryana, under the presidency of India. Leaders will take a comprehensive look at the global debt situation, sources said.
The meeting will discuss ways to enhance the stability and cohesion of international financial architecture and how to make it fit for addressing the global challenges of 21st century. The meeting will also focus on exploring ways to provide maximum economic support to poor and vulnerable countries.
Talking to the media Anu P Mathai, adviser, Trade Policy Division, Department of Commerce said, “This working group deals with issues related to international financial architecture such as global financial safety net (GFSN), matters related to development finance, managing debt vulnerabilities and enhancing debt transparency, capital flow management and promoting local currency bond markets.’’
“Debt is a big part of the agenda of this working group. With the pandemic, debt distress has become aggravated. Therefore, during the pandemic, one major step was taken to defer the debt repayment of very poor countries. That was something called the debt suspension service initiative,” said Mathai.
That was intimated during the Saudi Arabia presidency of the G-20 in 2020. From that, it moved on to the common treatment of debt repayment. An attempt was made to restructure the debt of the very poor countries. “Along with it, the transparency of debt has also become relevant,” said Mathai.
Agenda
The meeting will discuss ways to enhance the stability and cohesion of international financial architecture and how to make it fit for addressing the global challenges of 21st century